The Chief’s Corner

By Robert W. Seltzer, BSEE, EFO, MPA, Smithfield Fire Dept. Chief

A New Fire Station Benefits All of Smithfield

Passage of a $4.5 million bond referendum on November 6th will enable the Town of Smithfield to build a fire station in the Route 116/Route 7 north end of town. This investment not only provides much needed service to the area, but also offers benefits for the entire town.

For the duration of time that the Greenville and Esmond/Georgiaville fire & rescue apparatus are answering alarms in the north end of town, those areas are being left without fire & rescue service.

If an incident occurs in Greenville or Esmond/Georgiaville while crews are north on Route 116, it takes 12 minutes to get back to the south end of town. The increase in response time issue now flips from the north end of town to the south end of town.

By building a new fire station in the northern part of town, the south end apparatus will not have to cover both the northern and southern ends because apparatus will already be in place to respond.

The new fire station will allow fire & rescue resources to be located throughout the entire town so that all areas of town receive appropriate response times and available resources.

Response times in areas of Smithfield currently served by a fire station are 4 to 6 minutes. Response times in areas of Smithfield currently NOT served by a fire station are 8 to 14 minutes.
The new fire station will bring the 8 to 14 minute response times in the north end of town down to 4 to 6 minutes.
The new fire station will improve our insurance underwriter’s Public Protection Classification (PPC) rating also known as the Insurance Services Office (ISO) rating. This results in savings for homeowners and business insurance rates in every part of the Town of Smithfield.

Everyone in the Town of Smithfield deserves the same level of Emergency Services regardless of where they live or where their business is located!